TIRANA – A new technical assistance program sponsored by USAID and Albania’s General Directorate of Taxation (GDT) will increase the efficiency of tax collection in Albania, improve the business environment, and promote greater transparency and efficiency. The program will be implemented by the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) and Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA).  Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, and U.S. Embassy’s Chargé d'affaires, David Muniz, announced the program at a reception with some of Albania’s largest and most influential businesses.

In his remarks, Muniz underscored the important role of the GDT for businesses, “It is essential to promote a fair business climate by ensuring that all businesses play by and are subjected to the same rules... Furthermore, increasing GDT’s ability to investigate large-scale evaders will ultimately reduce the burden on legitimate businesses by helping the Government of Albania target its audits on high-risk entities.”

Through a series of short-term visits, senior-level volunteer experts from the US, EU, and other countries will work with GDT staff to improve performance in key functional areas. The experts will focus on increasing the efficiency of tax collection, adopting a risk-based approach to tax audits, improving intelligence gathering for tax fraud investigations, and building capacity to enforce tax compliance.‎ The project is part of a wider 5-year USAID assistance program worth $4.3 million for the strengthening of the financial sector in Albania, implemented through FSVC and VEGA.

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